Method and apparatus for cooling mill rolls



Dec. 27, 1932. s. w. ALDERFER 1,892,028

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING MILL ROLLS- Filed April 6, 1928 PRESSURE.

INVENTOR.

67-584 //\/G M4 AADERFZR A TTORNE YS Patented Dec. 27, 1932 UNITED STATES ermine w. ALDEBFEB, or anon, omo

amnion AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING KILL ROLLS Application filed April 6,

The present invention relates to the 1:11:5- aration of rubber, particularly to the ing of rubber, and to an improved mill roll cooling apparatus by which the efliciency of the devices used for chilling the rolls is increased and superior results are obtained.

In present s stems it is the custom to spray the interior 0 the mill roll by numerous jets of water which strike against the upper side of the interior of the roll, the water collecting in a pool in the bottom of the roll from which it is siphoned or drained ofl. No attempt has been made, prior to the present invention, to chan e the body of air within the roll, which, so ar as known to me, has always been static, and as a result the entire cooling eiiect produced by the difierence in temperature of the water entering the roll. The cooling of the mill rolls of a modern rubber plant requires a large volume of water and the eficienc of the cooling apparatus is overned by t e temperature of t e water and itsquantity. Inadequacz'es of Water supply and the inability to maintain it at a low temperature, particularl during the summer months, unfavorably a cot the operation of the factory and increase the expenses of'opcrating the mill room.

It is the purpose of the present invention to devise and rfect an improved method and apparatus or cooling mill rolls whereby lower tem ratures in the rolls may be obtained less water orwith water at a higher tem rature and the efliciency of the mills may ereby be increased.

Briefly stated, the object of the invention is efiected by increasing the rate of evaporation of the water on the interior of the mill roll and this may be done by several methods two of which are illustrated and described herein.

In the drawing, the showing is restricted to such parts of the apparatus as require i1- lustration, the mill roll housings and drivmg mechanism being omitted as any well known form of mill may be constructed with the improvements herein described.

Figure 1 is a sectlonal v1ew of a mill roll equipped with one form of the nvention, this particular embodiment of the invention uti-- 1988. Serial No. 267,885.

lizing the vacuum system to be described; an

Figure 2 is a similar view illustrating the pressure system.

Referring particularly to Figure 1, a mill roll of an ordinary rubber working mill is illustrated at 1, the bearings being indicated at 2. Located at the axis of the mill roll is the horizontal spray pipe 3, which extends the length of the interior of the roll and is provided with a plurality of apertures from which the water issues in a fine spray against the interior of the roll. In the ordinary operation ofa device of this character,'the water is allowed to collect in a 001 at the bottom of the roll from which it is drained or siphoned ofl. In this operation, the sole c00l ing effect is produced by the spraying of the interior of the roll with a large volume of water, the efiiciency of the apparatus being controlled solely by the temperature of the water and its volume.

The invention herein contained, however, consists in promoting the evaporation of the water and this is done in the form of the invention here under discussion by subjecting the interior of the roll to a vacuum, which may be exerted throu h the pipe 5. The vacuum which is applie to the interior of the roll promotes and increases the rate of evaporation of the water in the interior of the roll by reason of the well known physical law that evaporation varies inversely as the barometric pressure. It will be appreciated that in the usual operation, the interior of the roll is filled with a heavy mist due to such evaporation as takes place by the contact of the water with the hot roll. In the method described, however, the mist or Vapor is positively withdrawn and consequently the water in the spray will evaporate much faster than under ordinary conditions. The temperature at which the water evaporates is lowered by reason of the sub-atmospheric pressure in the roll and consequently the efliciency of the cooling system is greatly increased. v V

As an alternative for the vacuum'system, that shown in Figure 2 may be substituted, in which the roll is indicated at 10 and the 100 spray pipe at 11. In this drawing, the water in the interior of the roll is allowed to overflow at one end 12. The opposite end of the mill roll is connected to a source of air under pressure, indicated at 14, the air being circulated through the roll in a large volume so that the water will evaporate more rapidly than with a static condition of the air in the interior of the roll.

The invention shown and described herein may be embodied in other forms than those specifically illustrated and the invention may have a wider scope than that described within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for cooling rolls for the uses and purposes set forth, comprising a hollow roll, a pipe extending in the roll and having means for spraying the interior of the roll, and means for effecting circulation of air through the roll thereby increasing the rate of evaporation of the Water in the interior of the roll above the rate of evaporation obtainable with a static body of air in the roll.

2. The method of cooling mill rolls comprising spraying the interior of the roll with water and increasing the rate of evaporation of the water in the interior of the roll over the rate of evaporation obtainable in a static body of air in the interior of the roll by producing a rapid circulation of air through the interior of the roll.

3. The method of cooling mill rolls com.- prising spraying the interior of the roll with water in finely divided state whereby the interior of the roll is filled with vapor, and circulating air through the interior of the roll whereby the rate of evaporation of the water is increased over that obtainable with a static condition of the air within the roll.

4. The method of cooling mill rolls comprising spraying the interior of the roll with Water in a finely divided state, increasing the rate of evaporation of the water in the spray over that obtainable with a static body of air,

by producing a constant replacement of the Water saturated air in the interior of the roll by unsaturated air, thereby reducing the tem-' perature of the spray.

5. The method of cooling mill rolls comprising subjecting the interior of the roll to a water spray and reducing the temperature of the water in the spray by increaslng its rate of evaporation over that obtainable in a static body of air within the roll by the movement of air through the spray. 4

STERLING W. ALDERFER. 

